1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to yard maintenance tools and more particularly to a leaf bag funnel used for collecting fallen leaves and yard debris into leaf bags.
2. Background of the Related Art
Communities that have a dump site or service for collecting and disposing of leaves, yard debris and other organic waste often require that the debris be collected in biodegradable paper bags. An example of a prior art leaf bag is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1. These leaf bags frequently have dimensions of 35″ high by 15½″ wide by 11½″ deep and resemble an oversized paper grocery bag. Home owners rake their lawns and deposit the collected leaves and yard waste into the leaf bags for later pickup by the community disposal service. The home owner may also deliver the filled leaf bags themselves to a dump site too.
These prior art bags, however, suffer from the disadvantage in that they are difficult to load by a lone individual. In particular, these leaf bags tend to fold-up on themselves causing them to fall down and not stand upright if a second person is not available to firmly hold and support the leaf bag while another loads the leaf bag.
Additionally, the opening at the top tends to also fold closed making it difficult and irritating to load the leaf bag. Even if the top opening of the leaf bag remains fully open, as when being held by another person, the opening itself is not very large. Because the opening itself is not very large, leaves and debris will often spill over the edge of the leaf bag and onto the yard during loading. This problem makes loading leaf bags a time consuming and irritating process if an individual does not have help with the process.
Because leaf bags are manufactured of paper, these prior art leaf bags also suffer from the disadvantage of being easily torn during loading. This situation results not only in a wasted leaf bag, but also the user must reload the yard debris already collected into yet another leaf bag.
Therefore, there is a need for a device to support a leaf bag that minimizes the chances of tearing the leaf bag and minimizes the frequency of spilling leaves and yard debris back onto the lawn. Moreover, there is a need for a device that allows an individual to load the leaf bag without the assistance of another individual.